System and method for distributed preference data services

Abstract

An invention is provided for affording distributed preference data service. A plurality of storage providers is provided. Each storage provider provides access to a persistent data store that stores a set of data. In addition, each storage provider is registered with a storage provider registry. A storage provider that provides access to a particular set of data is selected using the storage provider registry, and the selected storage provider is used to access the particular set of data.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for providing distributed preference data service, comprising the operations of: 
 providing a plurality of storage providers, each storage provider providing access to a persistent data store storing a set of data;    registering each storage provider with a storage provider registry;    selecting a storage provider that provides access to a particular set of data using the storage provider registry; and    utilizing the selected storage provider to access the particular set of data.    
     
     
         2 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the storage provider registry further stores structured information associated with each storage provider, the structured information allowing the storage provider registry to be searched using a particular search pattern.  
     
     
         3 . A method as recited in  claim 2 , wherein each storage provider is optimized for a particular purpose.  
     
     
         4 . A method as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the structured information indicates the optimized particular purpose of a particular storage provider.  
     
     
         5 . A method as recited in  claim 4 , further comprising the operation of selecting a storage provider that provides access to a particular set of data using a search pattern based on a particular set of structured information.  
     
     
         6 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising the operation of caching the particular set of data.  
     
     
         7 . A method as recited in  claim 6 , wherein the particular set of data is a set of preferences.  
     
     
         8 . A method as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the set of preferences is stored as a preference tree.  
     
     
         9 . A system for distributed preference data services, comprising: 
 a storage provider registry; and    a plurality of storage providers, each storage provider in communication with a persistent data store storing a set of data, each service provider further optimized for a particular purpose,    wherein each storage provider is registered with the storage provider registry, and wherein the storage provider registry is capable of selecting a particular storage provider that provides access to a particular set of data.    
     
     
         10 . A system as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the storage provider registry further stores structured information associated with each storage provider, the structured information allowing the storage provider registry to be searched using a particular search pattern.  
     
     
         11 . A system as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the structured information indicates the optimized particular purpose of a particular storage provider.  
     
     
         12 . A system as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the storage provider that provides access to a particular set of data is further selected using a search pattern based on a particular set of structured information.  
     
     
         13 . A system as recited in  claim 12 , further comprising a preference cache component that caches the particular set of data.  
     
     
         14 . A system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the particular set of data is a set of preferences.  
     
     
         15 . A system as recited in  claim 14 , wherein the set of preferences is stored as a preference tree.  
     
     
         16 . A service provider for distributed preference data services, comprising: 
 a front-end component in communication with a plurality of preference services, each preference service providing access to a set of preferences for an application;    a preference cache component in communication with the front-end component, the preference cache component capable of locally caching a set of preferences; and    a storage provider registry that stores structure information associated with a plurality of storage providers, each structured information indicating an optimized particular purpose of a particular storage provider, wherein the preference cache component caches a set of preference data using a particular storage provider selected from the storage provider registry.    
     
     
         17 . A service provider as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the storage provider registry is capable of being searched using a particular search pattern for a particular set of structured information.  
     
     
         18 . A service provider as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the preference cache component can be shared by different preference services.  
     
     
         19 . A service provider as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the storage provider registry is external to the service provider.  
     
     
         20 . A service provider as recited in  claim 19 , wherein the external storage provider registry is configured to allow storage providers to be dynamically added during runtime.